Granular electrical connections for in situ formation heating

a technology of in situ formation heating and electrical connections, which is applied in the direction of fluid removal, insulation, and wellbore/well accessories, etc., can solve the problems of limited application to very shallow formations, decomposition of kerogen, and general discontinuation of practi

Active Publication Date: 2008-11-06
EXXONMOBIL UPSTREAM RES CO
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019]In one embodiment, a method for heating a subsurface formation using electrical resistance heating is provided. The method may include creating a passage in the subsurface between a first wellbore located at least partially within the subsurface formation and a second wellbore also located at least partially within the subsurface formation. The method may further include placing an electrically conductive granular material into the passage to form a granular electrical connection where the granular electrical connection provides electrical communication between the first wellbore and the second wellbore. The method may further include providing a first electrically conductive member in the first wellbore so that the first electrically conductive member is in electrical communication with the granular electrical connection, and providing a second electrically conductive member in a second wellbore so that the second electrically conductive member is also in electrical communication with the granular electrical connection. In this way an electrically conductive flow path is formed from the first electrically conductive member, the granular electrical connection and the second electrically conductive member. The method may further include establishing an electrical current through the electrically conductive flow path, thereby generating heat within the electrically conductive flow path due to electrical resistive heating. At least a portion of the generated heat may thermally conduct into the subsurface formation. The generated heat may be comprised of first heat generated from the first electrically conductive member, second heat generated from the second electrically conductive member, and third heat generated from the electrically conductive granular material, with the first heat, the second heat, or both being significantly greater than the third heat.
[0020]Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for heating a subsurface formation using electrical resistance heating. The method may include providing a first substantially vertical wellbore located at least partially in the subsurface formation, and providing a second substantially vertical wellbore located at least partially in the subsurface formation adjacent the first wellbore. The method may also include hydraulically fracturing the subsurface from the first wellbore to form a first fracture, and hydraulically fracturing the subsurface from the second wellbore to form a second fracture. The method may further include injecting an electrically conductive granular material into the first fracture and the second fracture to form a first electrically conductive fracture and a second electrically conductive fracture. The method may further include providing a first electrically conductive member in the first wellbore, and a second electrically conductive member in the second wellbore. In this manner the first electrically conductive member is in electrical communication with the first electrically conductive fracture, and the second electrically conductive member is in electrical communication with the second electrically conductive fracture. The method may further include providing a fourth wellbore having a substantially horizontal bottom portion that intersects the first fracture and the second fracture. In this embodiment, a fourth electrically conductive member is provided in the fourth wellbore so that an electrical flow path is formed between the first electrically conductive member, the first electrically conductive fracture, the fourth electrically conductive member, the second electrically conductive fracture, and the second electrically conductive member. The method may then include establishing an electrical current through the electrical flow path in order to generate heat due to electrical resistive heating primarily from the first electrically conductive member and the second electrically conductive member. At least a portion of the generated heat thermally conducts into the subsurface formation so as to cause at least partial conversion of solid hydrocarbons into hydrocarbon fluids.
[0021]Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for heating a subsurface formation using electrical resistance heating. The method may include providing a substantially vertical first wellbore located at least partially in the subsurface formation, and providing a substantially vertical second wellbore located at least partially in the subsurface formation and adjacent the first wellbore. The method may also include hydraulically fracturing the subsurface from the first wellbore to form a first fracture, and hydraulically fracturing the subsurface from the second wellbore to

Problems solved by technology

Kerogen is subject to decomposing upon exposure to heat over a period of time.
However, the practice has been mostly discontinued in recent years because it has proved to be uneconomical or because of environmental constraints on spent shale dispo

Method used

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  • Granular electrical connections for in situ formation heating
  • Granular electrical connections for in situ formation heating
  • Granular electrical connections for in situ formation heating

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

[0418]Oil shale block CM-1B was cored across the bedding planes to produce a cylinder 1.391 inches in diameter and approximately 2 inches long. A gold tube 7002 approximately 2 inches in diameter and 5 inches long was crimped and a screen 7000 inserted to serve as a support for the core specimen 7001 (FIG. 17). The oil shale core specimen 7001, 82.46 grams in weight, was placed on the screen 7000 in the gold tube 7002 and the entire assembly placed into a Parr heating vessel. The Parr vessel 7010, shown in FIG. 18, had an internal volume of 565 milliliters. Argon was used to flush the Parr vessel 7010 several times to remove air present in the chamber and the vessel pressurized to 500 psi with argon. The Parr vessel was then placed in a furnace which was designed to fit the Parr vessel. The furnace was initially at room temperature and was heated to 400° C. after the Parr vessel was placed in the furnace. The temperature of the Parr vessel achieved 400° C. after about 3 hours and re...

example 2

[0421]Oil shale block CM-1B was cored in a manner similar to that of Example 1 except that a 1 inch diameter core was created. With reference to FIG. 21, the core specimen 7050 was approximately 2 inches in length and weighed 42.47 grams. This core specimen 7050 was placed in a Berea sandstone cylinder 7051 with a 1-inch inner diameter and a 1.39 inch outer diameter. Berea plugs 7052 and 7053 were placed at each end of this assembly, so that the core specimen was completely surrounded by Berea. The Berea cylinder 7051 along with the core specimen 7050 and the Berea end plugs 7052 and 7053 were placed in a slotted stainless steel sleeve and clamped into place. The sample assembly 7060 was placed in a spring-loaded mini-load-frame 7061 as shown in FIG. 22. Load was applied by tightening the nuts 7062 and 7063 at the top of the load frame 7061 to compress the springs 7064 and 7065. The springs 7064 and 7065 were high temperature, Inconel springs, which delivered 400 psi effective stres...

example 3

[0424]Conducted in a manner similar to that of Example 2 on a core specimen from oil shale block CM-1B, where the effective stress applied was 400 psi. Results for the gas sample collected and analyzed by hydrocarbon gas sample gas chromatography (GC) and non-hydrocarbon gas sample gas chromatography (GC) (GC not shown) are shown in FIG. 24, Table 5 and Table 1. In FIG. 24 the y-axis 4020 represents the detector response in pico-amperes (pA) while the x-axis 4021 represents the retention time in minutes. In FIG. 24 peak 4022 represents the response for methane, peak 4023 represents the response for ethane, peak 4024 represents the response for propane, peak 4025 represents the response for butane, peak 4026 represents the response for pentane and peak 4027 represents the response for hexane. Results for the liquid collected and analyzed by whole oil gas chromatography (WOGC) analysis are shown in FIG. 25, Table 6 and Table 1. In FIG. 25 the y-axis 5050 represents the detector respon...

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Abstract

A method for heating a subsurface formation using electrical resistance heating is provided. In one aspect, the method includes creating a passage in the subsurface formation between a first wellbore located at least partially within the subsurface formation, and a second wellbore also located at least partially within the subsurface formation. An electrically conductive granular material is placed into the passage so as to provide electrical communication between the first wellbore and the second wellbore. Electrically conductive members are provided in the first wellbore and second wellbore so as to form an electrically conductive flow path comprised of the electrically conductive members, the granular material, and a power source. An electrical current is established through the electrically conductive flow path, thereby resistively heating at least a portion of the conductive members which in turn heats the subsurface formation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 919,391, which was filed on Mar. 22, 2007. That application is titled “Granular Electrical Connections for In Situ Formation Heating” and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to the field of hydrocarbon recovery from subsurface formations. More specifically, the present invention relates to the in situ recovery of hydrocarbon fluids from organic-rich rock formations including, for example, oil shale formations, coal formations and tar sands formations. The present invention also relates to methods for heating a subsurface formation using electrical energy.[0004]2. Background of the Invention[0005]Certain geological formations are known to contain an organic matter known as “kerogen.” Kerogen is a solid, carbonaceous material. When kerogen...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): E21B43/24E21B43/30
CPCE21B36/04E21B41/0064E21B43/17E21B43/2401E21B43/267E21B43/305Y02C10/14Y02C20/40
Inventor KAMINSKY, ROBERT D.
Owner EXXONMOBIL UPSTREAM RES CO
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